Italian killed fighting alongside rebels in Syria

Rome: A young Italian who was under investigation in Italy for terrorist recruitment has been killed fighting alongside rebels in Syria, according to Italian media reports on Tuesday.

Giuliano Ibrahim Delnevo, a 23- or 24-year-old from Genoa in northern Italy, was identified thanks to an Italian passport recovered from his body, the reports said.

Delnevo, who converted to Islam in 2008 and took the name Ibrahim, had been under investigation for terrorist recruitment according to Genoa prosecutor Michele Di Lecce, cited by La Repubblica daily on its website.

According to the Corriere della Sera newspaper, Delnevo crossed into Syria in 2012 from Turkey and joined rebels seeking to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Italy`s foreign ministry did not respond to an AFP request for information.